CHARLOTTE, NC -- Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, the nation's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, has appointed Henry W. Flint president and chief operating officer and William B. Elmore vice-chairman of the board.

J. Frank Harrison III, Coca-Cola Consolidated chairman and chief executive, said the changes in roles for the executives are part of a planned succession process and that they both will play a "critical and active" role in leading the company over the next few years. Charlotte-based Coca-Cola Consolidated operates in parts of 11 states primarily in the Southeast.

Flint joined the company in 2004 as executive vice-president and has been a member and vice-chairman of the board since 2007. Prior to joining the bottler, he was co-managing partner of Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, L.L.P.

Elmore has been the president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola Consolidated since 2001. He has served the company in high-level leadership roles over the past three decades.

Both executives will continue to be members of the company's board of directors.